NURSES’ AUTONOMY IN INTERACTING WITH RELATIVES THROUGH DIARY WRITING IN THE INTENSIVE CARE UNIT; AN EXPLORATIVE MIXED METHODS STUDY [NAIDIC-study]

Critically ill patients and their relatives benefit from the use of a diary during and after their stay in the intensive care unit (ICU). The stories that ICU nurses write in the diary provide a picture of the ICU period and report on the timeline and events. This is valuable in the emotional processing of the ICU admission and the prevention of mental health impairments. However, little scientific attention has been dedicated specifically to the process by which nurses construct the narrative.

Therefore, this study aims to describe which choices ICU nurses make regarding content and text when writing in the diary. NAIDIC, with qualitative and quantitative studies , facilitates ICU nurses in a champion role in person-centered care in their team, through influencing the standards of writing in a diary. To do so, they need to take leadership and enlarge autonomy in essential nursing care. This creates respectful and high-quality nursing through compassion and impact on ICU care.